


nature v. nurture

by uforock



Category: Final Space (Cartoon)
Genre: Comfort, M/M, s2e8 spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 13:49:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20228893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uforock/pseuds/uforock
Summary: Avocato has spent his entire life building up walls. The version of himself that is now sifting through their ruins doesn't understand why.





	1. ship of theseus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First, suppose that the famous ship sailed by the hero Theseus in a great battle has been kept in a harbour as a museum piece. As the years go by some of the wooden parts begin to rot and are replaced by new ones. After a century or so, all of the parts have been replaced. Is the "restored" ship still the same object as the original?

_ “But- Avocato is an excellent card player!” _

_ “Any more cards and I  _ will  _ shoot myself.” _

_ “I’m gonna shoot you- if you don’t play cards!” _ _   
_ _ “I’ll let you shoot me.” _

_ - _

He bit back a laugh, taking a sip of the drink Gary had given him. He said he liked milk, and that was true, this was pretty good.

Gary was sitting next to him. Gary had blonde hair and green eyes and in the video, he had two arms. 

The Gary sitting next to him only had one, and the soft, fleshy fingers were a few centimeters away from his own. 

“Any memories coming back for ya, buddy?”

He sighed. 

“Sorry, Gary.”

Gary sighed, resting his head on Avocato’s shoulder.

He looked past the screen, into his reflection in the window. His torn ear, the bags under his eyes. He focused on the screen again, not seeing the resemblance. That Avocato was bitter. That Avocato was war hardened, trusted nobody, refused to accept help.

This Avocato scooted closer to the human pressed against him.

“You don’t need to be sorry. Memories or not, you’re still my best friend. Right…?”

Avocato just squeezed his hands together a little in his lap. “I… Can’t remember. I don’t know anything about you. I hardly know  _ myself _ .”

Gary deflated, looking away, biting down hard on his bottom lip. “Yeah… Yeah, no, that’s- that’s fair.”

“Let me finish.”

Gary perked up again, all of his attention on Avocato. Avocato cleared his throat, feeling flustered under all the focus. He spoke.

“I don’t know you yet, and I don’t know myself. But I… I want to try and find out. I don’t know if I’ll ever be the man you lost. But I am the man you found, and I want to know who that is as much as you do.”

He held his hand out for Gary, an offer.

“Will you help me find out?”

Gary froze, looking down at the outstretched hand, then up into his partner’s eyes. His expression softened, and he clasped their hands together,pulling Avocato in for a hug.

Avocato happily accepted, basking in his warmth, seeing no reason not to. He nuzzled Gary’s shoulder and closed his eyes.

Gary was very thankful his eyes were closed, because his cheeks were absolutely  _ burning _ . He was lucky if Avocato would let him get in a crisp hi-five before the… accident.

The one hug he got was a spur of the moment thing, brought on by the deep awareness one of them might not make it out alive. 

This? A casual and honest display of affection? He wasn’t sure what to make of it. 

He decided to make the most of it, cuddling in close to his new old friend.

“Where should we start?”

“...Teach me to play cards?”

Gary sniffled, clinging onto him tighter. “Okay, buddy.”


	2. Swampman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suppose Davidson goes hiking in the swamp and is struck and killed by a lightning bolt. At the same time, nearby in the swamp another lightning bolt spontaneously rearranges a bunch of molecules such that, entirely by coincidence, they take on exactly the same form that Davidson's body had at the moment of his untimely death.
> 
> This being, whom Davidson terms "Swampman," has, of course, a brain which is structurally identical to that which Davidson had, and will thus, presumably, behave exactly as Davidson would have. He will walk out of the swamp, return to Davidson's office at Berkeley, and write the same essays he would have written; he will interact like an amicable person with all of Davidson's friends and family, and so forth.

Avocato likes cookies. He likes the smell of Little Cato’s hair, and likes it when Nightfall smiles. He likes Ash, and likes Fox, though, Fox doesn’t like him for some reason. 

Avocato likes playing cards. His favorite game is bullshit, and his least favorite game is go fish. His favorite color is green. His favorite outfit is actually an old hoodie of Gary’s that he cut the bottom off of. He hates having his stomach covered, for some reason.

He can’t hear properly out of his right ear. It’s finally healed, but the chunk taken out of it makes everything sound muffled. His balance is thrown off because of it, and he sometimes stumbles when they hit turbulence. 

The first time he fell, Gary caught him, taking the opportunity to hold him close.

Avocato decides that he quite likes the feeling of Gary’s hands on him. 

Gary takes every opportunity to touch him, where everyone else handles him like he’s fragile. Gary tugs him around the ship, spins him through the halls, squeezes his hand, hugs him…

He’s started a habit of kissing Avocato’s knuckles during quiet moments when nobody is around, and Avocato decides that he likes that. 

“Did you do that with him,” he asks, quietly, one night. “The kissing?”

Gary looks away, cheeks flushed, a sad smile on his face. “No, not really. Well… there was one time. He thought it was weird. Do you…? Think it’s weird?”

“No,” he breathed, picking up Gary’s hand and kissing the back of it, between the spaces in his own fingers. “It’s nice.”

Gary bloomed like a rose, glowed like sunshine. “Cool, cool, cool,” he mumbled, squeezing Avocato’s hand, his smile audible through his words, shaky around the edges, emotion threatening to tear at his seams.

“Do you remember anything?”

“Sorry,” he said, for the millionth time. 

It wasn’t totally true. He had been having nightmares. Wretched, twisted things that filled him with fear and panic and made him reach for a gun that wasn’t there when he woke up. 

“It’s no problem, Av,” he sighed, smiling that same sad smile. 

“...Do you wish I were him?”

“...No. I like you. You didn’t try to kill me the first time we met.”

“...Were you in love with him?” Avocato breathed, his tail flicking back and forth.

Gary bit down hard on his bottom lip. “I… I think I might have been.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Sorry… I never really… expected it to go anywhere, y’know?”

“Mm…”

Avocato leaned into him. Gary smelled like leather and sweat in a way that was both gross and comforting, like an old couch. 

“Why?”

“What now?”

“Why did you fall in love with him?”

Gary’s cheeks got redder and he laughed nervously. “Well… that’s a question. Uh… Well, everyone loves a bad boy, y’know?”

“Gary,” Avocato put an arm on his shoulder and Gary froze, his words caught in his throat. He slowly lowered his arms, stepping on his own feet.

“...He was my first real friend in five years, but it was more than that. He put…  _ So _ much faith in me. Before I went to prison, the people I hung around with… I guess I only ever hung around them because I didn’t have a choice. But with Avocato… I did have a choice, and I wanted to be with him. He chose to be with me, despite the dangers, and…

“I first realized I was like, in love with him when we went to stop the Infinity Guard. He was so strong and brave and we fought side by side and I just… I realized I wanted that to be a day to day thing. So I guess I fell in love with him because he's someone I needed.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Avocato’s ears flattened down against his head and he looked out the window. “...Do you… Do you think I’m him? Or am I someone else?”

Gary stayed quiet for a little bit too long. “That's something you should be answering yourself, but... No. I don’t think you’re him. But I’m not the same person I was when we met the first time, and the girl sitting out in the cockpit isn’t the Quinn I first met. We… We’re all different. We’re the same, but different, and your memories would make you a different version of you, but still not the same one I remember.”

Avocato perked up a bit.

“And honestly, I like you. You’re not the person I once knew, no, but you’re you, and I like you.”

Avocato didn’t know what to make of that, so he closed his eyes and leaned into Gary.


End file.
